Venice’s 68th International Film Festival’s Head Juror

Darren Aronofsky is a brilliant American filmmaker whose star has risen in a meteoric fashion since 2007. That was the year he took a film made with a 6 million dollar budget and turned it into box office gold. The Wrestler won an astonishing slate of highly prestigious awards, including Venice’s Golden Lion which had previously only been won by an American film twice before in 65 years of competition. The Wrestler was also a rebirth for Mickey Rourke and garnered Academy Award nominations for Rourke and Marisa Tomei, as well as Best Original Song for Bruce Springsteen.

Aronofsky’s next feature Black Swan received so many awards they won’t be listed here. Determination and vision probably best describe this remarkable filmmaker. He made his first film ‘Pi’ in 1997 with financial support from his family. It premiered at SunDance in 1998 and went on to win him Best Director. Aronofsky is a great friend of Natalie Portman, and the two of them have proven that a serious education (both Harvard grads) can have an impact, if the talent is really there.

The road for Aronofsky was not easy and it would take another decade to achieve the kind of recognition and stature in the industry that Aronofsky was destined for. On the way there he would write, direct and produce an outstanding slate of films including Requiem For A Dream as well as suffer the personal disappointment of having major projects such as Batman: Year One get quashed and The Fountain crashing at the box office. Dedication to his work also took a toll on his personal life when he and the mother of his son, actress Rachel Weisz called it quits, their relationship suffering from too much time apart.

Darren Aronofsky is delighted to be at the 68th Venice International Film Festival as a juror. His take on the role: Jury’s are always their own thing. Here just 7 filmmakers and artists are weighing the value of films in competition and making decisions. Outcomes have a lot to do with being in the right place, with the right jury at the right time. Taste is such a strange thing. History sometimes does help a movie and sometimes it doesn’t. Being a part of the Venice International Film Festival should be fun and not taken to seriously. “Of course the kudos of winning is fantastic,” says Aronofsky.